HUWWARA, BEIT IBA, Wednesday 31 March 2004 PMObservers: Hava S., Ayelet B., Hannah A., Orit B., Michal P., Yehudit A.(reporting) color =red>13:30: Beit IbaThere are about 100 people waiting behind the line, they go through a metal detector one at a time and from there to the “box” where their documents and belongings are checked. Most are students, mainly from the A-Najah university in Nablus (in almost every case, students who attend other institutions are not allowed through the checkpoint). The students complain that they have been standing around for some three hours. One of the soldiers tries to make some order and screams at them. Every few minutes he halts all movement, drags a few people out of the line, either because they were pushing or just for no particular reason, takes their documents from them and has them wait at the side. Again the claim is that some student cards are forged — their owners are sent to the area reserved for those who are detained where some 20 people are already waiting.We meet three ISM activists who tell us of a hunt for “wanted” men in Nablus. They say the place is full of Israeli soldiers and that last night soldiers went into the A-Najah dormitories looking for a wanted man. They made a lot of noise, but they didn’t find their prey.There are some new sign posts at the checkpoint.When we try to talk to the soldiers about the detainees or about moving the line along faster, the answer we get is :”We are not allowed to talk to you! You disturb our work!” etc. etc.14:45 HuwarraOnly a few people at the southern checkpoint. At the northern checkpoint , the line moves at a reasonable speed, though there is a lot of tension and a great many soldiers with their weapons at the ready. When we get there, there are 25 detainees, 100 people waiting to go through the checkpoint , and ten vehicles. Here, too, it’s impossible to talk to the soldiers.15:00 — One of the soldiers calls me aside and says that I shouldn’t tell the locals but there are serious warnings of a possible terror attack and it would be better for our safety if we left. We don’t get too excited about this and stay on, standing next to the soldiers. Later it emerges that one of the soldiers has become fed up with our presence and called the police who arrive immediately. They take our identity cards. There then follows the usual rigmarole — we insist we have every right to be there unless we are shown a proper military order banning us from the area. Ten minutes later there arrives an order from the brigade commander, complete with a map. The area designated a “closed military area” (the Bur’in junction) — and just for today –is ringed around with a marker pen. What emerges is that we are allowed to be at the southern end. Meanwhile, at least 30 women have been detained in addition to a similar number of men. Michal, who talks to the army’s humanitarian hot line — or perhaps another source — learns that there is allegedly a female terrorist on the way.16:15 When we leave, they are not allowing any women through the checkpoint.